Walk/drive A Dog/motorcycle

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This hulking monster was created by the Mutoid Waste Company because, well, why not? Part dog, part motorcycle it walks/drives and breathes fire. Constructed from all salvaged parts, this thing is a testament to recycling. Either that or it is the harbinger of the robot apocalypse. Regardless of the possibility of it enslaving all mankind, we want one. Be sure to watch the video.

Controlling A Rover With Your Eyes

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDcbPUQ8kvY]

Controlling a robot simply by looking at your desired location is pretty freaking awesome. A web camera pointed at your face, analyzes your movements and pupil direction to send the bot signals. Look at a location and the bot goes, change your expression to send other commands to the bot. This easily surpasses the laser guided assistance droid for ease of use.

[via BotJunkie]

25C3 Hardware Workshops

quadcopter

The 25C3 team has a post highlighting some of the hardware workshops that will be happening at Chaos Communication Congress this year. Our own [Jimmie Rodgers] will be in the microcontroller workshop area building kits with many others. The folks from mignon will be bringing several of their game kits for another workshop. We saw quite a few quadcopters at CCCamp and the team from Mikrokopter will be back to help you construct your own drone. They say it only takes five hours for the full build, but space is limited.

Roboexotica 2008

robo11

We couldn’t make Roboexotica in Vienna, Austria this year (check out last year’s coverage), so we asked [Bre Pettis] to act as our liaison.

Last night was the opening party of Roboexotica, the worldwide gathering of cocktail robots. It was a blast! Pictured above is Robovox, a 40 foot high robot that you can text message to and it will say what you text to it! Continue reading “Roboexotica 2008”

Robot Strippers Not Too Enticing

robot_strippers

We really aren’t sure what the statement is here.  This is one of the displays at the MuTate London Exhibition. There is tons of stuff to see there, from interactive displays to giant art-piece vehicles. This specific display seems to have garnered the most attention though. we can understand the megaphone headed flailing DJ, but what is with the CCTV camera heads?

[via Gizmodo]

Ripsaw MS1

ripsaw

The Ripsaw MS1 is an unmanned ground vehicle built by two brothers in Maine. The tracked vehicle can go 0-60 in 3.5 seconds with an 80mph top speed. In its current form, it has a 2000 pound capacity, which opens the possibility for many different types of weapon systems. Control is provided by two people: one driver and one gunner. They work in independent remote stations. The Ripsaw could potentially be used in any application normally reserved for a tank. It could lead a charge without putting soldiers at risk.

We’ve been watching this project mature since 2005 when it was being marketed as a Grand Challenge competitor. This week it’s being demoed at the Army Science Conference. Check out footage of it in motion below.

Continue reading “Ripsaw MS1”

Winboni, A Window Cleaning Robot

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kchwH-3tY0]

The Winboni is the first place winner in the International Student Design Competition of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Winboni is a small robot that cleans windows. That alone doesn’t set the robot apart. The fact that it is held on by suction is what distinguishes it. Running off AA batteries, this robot clings to the window as it cleans it with felt pads. It is hard to believe that this isn’t already a commercial product. Actually, we thought we had even seen it before, but we can’t find it now.

[via DVICE]